The Feds are reportedly about to nail a bunch of drug companies for price fixing

Federal prosecutors may bring charges of price collusion against a group of generic drugmakers before the end of the year, Bloomberg reports.

The Department of Justice started this investigation two years ago, and it includes over a dozen drug companies — Mylan, Lannett, and Teva to name three— and dozens of drugs. Charges could come down as early as December, according to the Bloomberg report by David McLaughlin and Caroline Chen.

A bunch of the stocks involved with the investigation are falling on this news. Here's a quick sampling:

Generic drugs are supposed to keep healthcare costs down. But the government may be about to allege that these companies worked together to keep prices higher instead of allowing market competition to set pricing.

Charges of price collusion within the industry are not unheard of. In fact, Lannett, Mylan, Impax, and Par are all involved in a separate class action suit over the price of digoxin, a heart drug, and doxycycline, an antibiotic. That suit was filed in April, and Allergan and West-Ward Pharmaceuticals are also involved in it.